Australia and China partner to develop carbon capture and storage technologies
Australia and China have signed a partnership agreement that will pave the way for the installation of a post combustion capture pilot plant in Beijing next year. The collaboration is a first step towards the development of 'clean coal' technologies that capture and store carbon. The pilot plant will be installed at the Huaneng Beijing Co-generation Power Plant, owned by the China Huaneng Group, a state-owned energy enterprise. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's national science agency, is the partner.
Biopact tracks developments in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, because they can be applied to biofuels. Such 'bio-energy with carbon storage' (BECS) systems result in the production of carbon-negative energy - the only energy system capable of doing so. Contrary to nuclear or renewables like wind or solar, BECS actually takes emissions from the past out of the atmosphere. Scientists have looked at BECS in the context of 'abrupt climate change', as the most feasible way of radically reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels (previous post). If implemented on a global scale, BECS can take us back to pre-industrial CO2 levels by mid-century (earlier post, here and here).
The agreement between CSIRO and the China Huaneng Group involves post combustion capture (PCC), a process that captures CO2 from power station flue gases (more here on pre-combustion capture). PCC is seen as one of the key technologies that can potentially reduce CO2 emissions from existing and future coal-fired power stations by more than 85 per cent.
The PCC process (image, click to enlarge) involves four steps:
Researchers at CSIRO have already developed a transportable pilot plant that can be coupled to different types of power stations (for example for brown or black-coal-fired) to test different solvents:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: coal :: carbon capture and storage :: bio-energy with carbon storage :: geosequestration :: Australia :: China ::
The installation of the PCC pilot plant in Beijing forms part of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate initiative (AP6) which first announced funding for PCC research in November 2006. Low-emission energy generation is a key research area for CSIRO and is important for China, a country that relies on coal to supply 80 per cent of its energy needs.
The AP6 program for PCC also includes a pilot plant installation at Delta Electricity’s Munmorah power station on the NSW Central Coast, with additional Australian sites currently under negotiation for PCC installation and demonstration.
PCC research in Australia is also taking place outside the scope of the AP6 program with the announcement of the Latrobe Valley post combustion capture project – a A$5.6 million endeavour that focuses on the reduction of emissions from brown coal power stations.
Top image: A post combustion capture (PCC) pilot plant at CSIRO Energy Technology’s Newcastle site. Credit: CSIRO.
References:
CSIRO: Australia and China partner for a low-emission energy future - September 6, 2007.
CSIRO: Rolling out low emission technology using post combustion capture research - s.d.
CSIRO: Post combustion capture (PCC), factsheet.
Biopact: Abrupt Climate Change and geo-engineering the planet with carbon-negative bioenergy - December 21, 2006
Biopact: Biopact to chair Sparks & Flames conference panel on carbon-negative biofuels - August 08, 2007
Article continues
Biopact tracks developments in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, because they can be applied to biofuels. Such 'bio-energy with carbon storage' (BECS) systems result in the production of carbon-negative energy - the only energy system capable of doing so. Contrary to nuclear or renewables like wind or solar, BECS actually takes emissions from the past out of the atmosphere. Scientists have looked at BECS in the context of 'abrupt climate change', as the most feasible way of radically reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels (previous post). If implemented on a global scale, BECS can take us back to pre-industrial CO2 levels by mid-century (earlier post, here and here).
The agreement between CSIRO and the China Huaneng Group involves post combustion capture (PCC), a process that captures CO2 from power station flue gases (more here on pre-combustion capture). PCC is seen as one of the key technologies that can potentially reduce CO2 emissions from existing and future coal-fired power stations by more than 85 per cent.
The PCC process (image, click to enlarge) involves four steps:
- pre-cooling the flue gas
- capturing the CO2 using water-based solvent
- low-temperature stripping the CO2 from the solvent
- compressing and liquefying the stripped CO2
Researchers at CSIRO have already developed a transportable pilot plant that can be coupled to different types of power stations (for example for brown or black-coal-fired) to test different solvents:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: coal :: carbon capture and storage :: bio-energy with carbon storage :: geosequestration :: Australia :: China ::
The installation of the PCC pilot plant in Beijing forms part of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate initiative (AP6) which first announced funding for PCC research in November 2006. Low-emission energy generation is a key research area for CSIRO and is important for China, a country that relies on coal to supply 80 per cent of its energy needs.
China is a nation undergoing an immense period of growth and energy security and supply is vital to support this process. With issues such as climate change at the front of our minds, this research – and the development of a diverse range of low-emission energy technologies – is now more important than ever. This is a priority for both CSIRO and the China Huaneng Group. - CSIRO Chief Executive, Dr Geoff GarrettCSIRO has been working on collaborative projects with China for over 30 years, in areas as diverse as minerals and mining technology, plantation forestry, environmental sustainability, and crop science.
The AP6 program for PCC also includes a pilot plant installation at Delta Electricity’s Munmorah power station on the NSW Central Coast, with additional Australian sites currently under negotiation for PCC installation and demonstration.
PCC research in Australia is also taking place outside the scope of the AP6 program with the announcement of the Latrobe Valley post combustion capture project – a A$5.6 million endeavour that focuses on the reduction of emissions from brown coal power stations.
Top image: A post combustion capture (PCC) pilot plant at CSIRO Energy Technology’s Newcastle site. Credit: CSIRO.
References:
CSIRO: Australia and China partner for a low-emission energy future - September 6, 2007.
CSIRO: Rolling out low emission technology using post combustion capture research - s.d.
CSIRO: Post combustion capture (PCC), factsheet.
Biopact: Abrupt Climate Change and geo-engineering the planet with carbon-negative bioenergy - December 21, 2006
Biopact: Biopact to chair Sparks & Flames conference panel on carbon-negative biofuels - August 08, 2007
Article continues
Friday, September 07, 2007
Acid rain has a disproportionate impact on coastal waters
The findings are important for the bioenergy community, because, compared to coal, the production of power from biomass substantially reduces all major emissions that lead to ocean acidification: sulfur dioxide (by up to 80%), nitrogen oxide (by up to 50%), and of course carbon dioxide. Even taking into account the emissions produced during the production of energy crops, the benefits compared to coal remain large (overview of data on lifecycle emissions of biomass for power generation at the U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Biomass Program).
The findings were published this week as an open access article in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; a printed version will be issued later this month.
In addition to acidification, excess nitrogen inputs from the atmosphere promote increased growth of phytoplankton and other marine plants which, in turn, may cause more frequent harmful algal blooms and eutrophication (the creation of oxygen-depleted 'dead zones') in some parts of the ocean.
Most studies have traditionally focused only on fossil fuel emissions and the role of carbon dioxide in ocean acidification, which is certainly the dominant issue. But no one has really addressed the role of acid rain and nitrogen:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: fossil fuels :: sulfur :: nitrogen :: coal :: acid rain :: acidification :: carbon cycle ::
Scott Doney, senior scientist in the Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), collaborated to analyse these effects together with Natalie Mahowald, Jean-Francois Lamarque, and Phil Rasch of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Richard Feely of the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Fred Mackenzie of the University of Hawaii, and Ivan Lima of the WHOI Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department.
The research team compiled and analyzed many publicly available data sets on fossil fuel emissions, agricultural, and other atmospheric emissions. They built theoretical and computational models of the ocean and atmosphere to simulate where the nitrogen and sulfur emissions were likely to have the most impact. They also compared their model results with field observations made by other scientists in the coastal waters around the United States.
Farming, livestock husbandry, and the combustion of fossil fuels cause excess sulfur dioxide, ammonia, and nitrogen oxides to be released to the atmosphere, where they are transformed into nitric acid and sulfuric acid. Though much of that acid is deposited on land (since it does not remain in the air for long), some of it can be carried in the air all the way to the coastal ocean.
This rain of chemicals changes the chemistry of seawater, with the increase in acidic compounds lowering the pH of the water while reducing the capacity of the upper ocean to store carbon.
The most heavily affected areas tend to be downwind of power plants (particularly coal-fired plants) and predominantly on the eastern edges of North America, Europe, and south and east of Asia.
Seawater is slightly basic (pH usually between 7.5 and 8.4), but the ocean surface is already 0.1 pH units lower than it was before the Industrial Revolution. Previous research by Doney and others has suggested that the ocean will become another 0.3 to 0.4 pH units lower by the end of the century, which translates to a 100 to 150 percent increase in acidity.
Ultimately, acidification leads to a reduced capacity of oceans to store carbon. Together with plants, marine organisms play the key role in nature's way of cycling carbon dioxide. If this mechanism comes under strain, ecosystems risk to get out of balance and may reach a tipping point after which more carbon emissions result in ever stronger negative effects. This is why it is time to act now on reducing the amount of greenhouse gases we put into the atmosphere, while reducing sulfur and nitrogen emissions as well.
Funding for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
References:
Scott C. Doney, Natalie Mahowald, Ivan Lima, Richard A. Feely, Fred T. Mackenzie, Jean-Francois Lamarque, and Phil J. Rasch, "Impact of anthropogenic atmospheric nitrogen and sulfur deposition on ocean acidification and the inorganic carbon system", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., Published online before print September 5, 2007, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0702218104
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: Acid Rain Has a Disproportionate Impact on Coastal Waters: Research Suggests Sulfur, Nitrogen Emissions Play a Role in Changing Chemistry Near the Coast - September 7, 2007.
Article continues
posted by Biopact team at 11:41 PM 1 comments links to this post